Momentum-operated brake



May 15, 1923. 1,455,325 v J. DA NOBREGA u MOMENTUM OPERATED BRAKE Filed Sept. l. 1921 Patented May 15, 1923.

I UNITeo ,STAT-Es :roAeUIM ooUTrnHo DA' mannen; or NEW Yonx; n. Y.

Application filed September 1, 1921. Serial No; 497,557.'

.T 0 all w/tmrtit concern.'

Be it known that I, JOAQUIM COUTINHO' 'DA NOBREGA, a citizen of Brazil, residing at New York city, in the county'of'lNew York and'State o-f New York,lhave invented certain new and useful vImprovementslin lMomentum-Operated Brakes, of which the following is a specification. This inventionrelates to means forv controlling the speedof moving machines or vehicles, and has particular reference toa braking means 1 adapted to be operated powerfully and hence effectively by means of themomentum yof the vehicle or ment'of the machine. y j

:Among the objects of the invention isfto ,provide a brake including -a shoe or similar friction element for co-operation with a wheel orf some other relatively movable part, and with a ,peculiar arrangement of mechanical parts caused to Vbe moved `powerfully bythe rotation of someipart of the machine, such as an axle, and serving as Ia result to .force such frictionl element jinto Contact with thewheel orvthe like s0 as to either stop the rotation of the wheel or to retard such rotation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a brake for a moving vehicle,.including yan actuator movablealways in ya predetermined direction for' braking and co-opera'ting with momentum operated membersifor l causing such` movement ofthe actuatorirre-A spective of the dlrection 1n whlchthe `vehicle maybe moving.

A lstill further object is to'fprovide a brake fora moving vehicle for machine,y including an actuator movable in a predetermined direction for braking, and means to automatically return said actuator to normal position. u j p Vith the; foregoing and other objects -in view' the invention consists inthe arrangement and combina-tion of parts hereinafter describedand claimed,'and whilevthe invention is not restrictedlto'the` exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is' had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views,` and in whichff y Figure l 1s a plan view of my improvement,'with,parts in section;

IlflOVe- {.Fig. 2.is a vertical sectional view of the same on the lineQf-Q ofFig. 1. 'L

-F rom what is. stated,abovef-l-.wish it to be ldistinctly understood that while'I have -indicated myim'provement' as applied tol a portion of a` railroad carvtruck,"jthe'scope ofthe inventionv is not to belimitedfwith respect to thefgeneral typeof vehicleor machine. connection with vany-type or design of mechanismy in which .a .relatively sudden-stop is desired or lwhere the power relied 'upon for loperating the: brake may be yobtained from the momentum o-f the` machine or vehicle itself, even though-the adjustment of the frictionrelements may be such as notto cause immediate stoppage..`

y "Referring now :more `specifically to the In short the invent-ion is *usefuly in drawings I show a portion of a vehicle in.- Il' cluding an axle 10 to' which are, secured wheels -11 adapted for rolling upon the: rails 12... lindicates a -framei having any' lsuitable or approvedbearing` connections with the axle l() and `including parallel sidebars i 13a and frontandrearcrOSs bars V13" and 13. I Obviously the vehicle may be operated forward in either direction but for convenience of this description it'will be *assumed that thel forward 'direction is toward the left as indicated byk the arrow at: the upper portiony of Fig. l.' 1. 1'

Pivoted upon vertical p'ivots14` onthe side barswla areja pairl of'y levers connected in j l any suitable manner lto av palr'ofL friction elements-such as brake shoe's16normally spaced slightly from thefperipheries of? the wheels 911;* The connections between the lever and the shoesinclude "cushions in the form of coil springs' l'gfeachrcarried vby a `f f knuckle 18"adjustable toward `or from the outerp'end-'o'f the adjacentlever'l as by brake shoe/and thei` wheel, varying however `according to the wear on the `parts and to the force desiredfto be applied upon the brake.

- yAny suitable means maybel provided to actuate thesebrake levers always 'in' the same directlo-n, whether the vehicle is moving for.' ward or rearward, and to utilizethe momentum yof the y vehicle for the applgatimnf power to the brake shoes, and whereby the momentum ofthe vehicle or other machine to be stopped will in effect dissipate itself in the act when operating the brakes.

., To carry forward the purpose above 1n. dicated I provide .an actuator in the formof a rack extending longitudinally of the frame, preferably alongits center andabove the axle, the teeth of the rack extending downward. The levers 15 ,':are pivotally connected at 2l to the front end uof the actirator,` and :being levers: of the iirst 4class are caused to rotate around-their pivots with .great :power when the actuator is moved forwardfagainst the force of a coil spring 22 :extending betweenthe `front end of the ac- .tuator and the front cross bar 13b, v`this spring tyzpifyingvl any suitable automatic means tending to return then-actuator. t0 normal position.; i f 1 'Q Fixed to thecentral portion of the axle v1s `a double faced cone 23, the conical faces of i :So causing 'they-clutch member 24. tokbe gripped upon the conicalfacesof the member 23. Vith the machine moving `in vthe direction indicated the yclutch members y24 will be rotated in the same direc-tion. These rclutch members have vspur teeth meshing with the Ateeth of the actuator, vand so when `the clutchmembers are rotated by the double vconc the actuator will .be moved 'forward forcibly,'bringing the brake fshoes into: en-

ygagement with the wheels in :accordance with 4the adjustment as above' described.

l vAfter the braking effect is realized the manual means .30 will '.be restored to its norm-al position, -th-ussetting free'the Iclutch members from .the double cone, .and the spring l22 willrestore the brake shoes and .actuator to normal'position. `Itiwillv be noted that with'the arrangement of the toggle `in con .nection with the 4two clutch members simi- -larly situated on opposite ends of the double cone, they will lboth operate simultaneously with equal-force. ,v l When it is desiredto brake the machine or vehicle when moving in the reverse direc tion, 'or to the right as indicated,l I employ a pair .of cones 3l fixed to the axle 10 justl within'the framevbars 13"L andi with which ,cos-operate clutch; members 32'l1aving spur teeth .on their .peripheries .Thesefclutch yof friction at the clutches.l

members 32 are mounted loosely upon the axle and are controlledl in. their movements toward and from the fixed cones 31 by means of bell .cranks 33 pivoted at 34 on --the bar 27. The free ends of the bell cranks or Ithose remote froinlthe clutch or yoke ends are pivotedlooselyat 35 to the front end of l y a manual controlling means in the form of a rod 36. yWhen the rod 36 is forced Vor drawn rearward .the-*yokes of the bell cranks are forced away from each other, causing the clutch members to lengage vthe cones 31. y The direction of rotation ofv the conesfat this .time is indicated by'dotted arrows, and

the teethof the members B2 meshing with the spurv -gears'i onfa icounter shaftV 38,

causerthe movement of theactuator forward for the applicationfof the brakes in the same direction as above described, Vdue tothe en? 'l -gagement 'of the rack .teeth rwith .a gear l39 ixed to the shaftBS. .Because of .the toggle '-5 yeilect of the .bell cranks it. isfpossibleto ,secure `ample engagement between' the clutch members" B2'andfthe cones. `to Cause sutliv -ciently positive rotation of the gear meinbers-for operating the .axctuator, v.although *if obviously"thefbraking .effec-t, either forward or rearward, may be.regulated.at the: manual y means so .astoproduce any v.desired .degree lt will be under?- Astood.'thatxfthe spring-22 will' returnfthe lactuator to normal position' whetherthe ac- ,tuatorhas been movedbyeither ofthe manual devices, and-.it `will be .understood also that .the -manUaldeViCes will b`e'-{;actuated vthe other vwilll'eave the associated clutch members disengagedand idle. E' f 1 From the foregoing lit will be `noted that I have .provided 'a most .powerfulan'd prompt acting brake mechanism'l 'for any Atype lof moving vehiclefor machine, .and one which will be .operated yforcibly largely bythe momentum of jhe vehicle or machine itself.`

I claims"y erarte'd brake. in combination with a' Arotating axle andwheelf connected thereto, the brake comprising a friction'. shoe 4cooperating with the wheel, .a clutchcone xedfto upon. the axle adjacent to the .cone,manual meansvto cause the-loose clutch member to engage thecone, the Vclutch member` being provided 'with-.spur teeth; 'an Iactuatorrack "independently so that `vv'hen one is .operated l. The herein described momentum ',op

115:` y the axle, a clutch `member normally! looselyingtransverse lto .andrabove'theaxle and vhavingits `teeth meshing withtlieteeth of the clutch mem-ber whereby :when the clutch memberis rotated from-the axle "the actuator will be mov-ed in apredetermined direction, iauxiliaryfmeansadapted 'to act uponV the .rack to'zcause 1t to move in the same-prede termined direction when-the lwheel and axle arev rotated 1in-the .opnositedi-rection. from that first indicated, and lever.' means between the actuator and the friction shoe to cause the latter to engage the wheel with the force vproportional to the force appliedv to the actuator"irrespective' of the vdirection of movement of the machine.

2. The herein described momentumoperated brake comprising in combination, a' rotating axle and wheel connected thereto,

a brake shoe co-operating with the wheel, a

friction clutch member fixed to the axle, av companion clutch member, manual means toy cause the clutch members to engagepeach other, the loose clutch member being pro-- rengage the wheel with a force proportional to the force applied to the actuator, and

`regulating means co-operating with said lever means for the adjustment thereof with respect to the shoe, said regulating means comprising a knuckle pivoted to the lever means, a member between the knuckle and the shoe, and an adjustable screw extending through the end of the lever means and bearing against the side of the knuckle rei mote from the shoe.

'3. The herein described momentum operated brake, in combination with a rotat-v rection.

ing axle and wheel connected thereto,l the,r

brake-comprising a friction shoe .co-operating with the wheel, a clutch cone fixed to the axle,"and 'having-y two conical faces, two

clutch members normally looseupon the axle adjacent yto the cone and j co-ope'rating ,ref` `spectivelyjwith the ltwo faces ofthe cone, y

manual means for operating theclutch members including' a toggle acting forcibly upon both of the loose clutch "members to cause them to engage the cone simultaneously, kat

least one ofthe loose clutch members being j provided with spur teeth, an actuator rack lyingtransverse to and uponfthe axle and y having'it's. teeth meshing with the spur teeth j aforesaidwhereby when the clutch memberhaving the spur teeth is rota-ted with the axlethe actuator `will be moved a preclef termined direction, and lever means between 's the actuator and the friction shoe to cause vthe-latter to engage the wheelwitha yforce prepor'tional to the` force applied to the actuator. j l

' L A device as set forthin claim includ- *I i. in a counter shaft parallel `to the axle,

a gear fixed to thel counter shaft and mesh` ing with the rack teeth, and auxiliary means between the axle and the counter shaft to cause the rotation of the counter shaft in a forward directiony for` setting the kbrake j when the axle is rotating in ajreverse di- In testimony whereof I aiix signature;

JOQUIM COUTlNHO da NOBREGA. 

